Goldberg pokes at the politics of the United States with the stick of Russian cynicism, and simultaneously listens at the keyhole of Russian cynicism with the ear of an Americanized cynic. The Château is the perfect summer beach book for those of us too agonized by the world as it is to escape into a summer beach book. He has given us the luxurious pleasure of relaxing into the belly of the beast. Authoritarian governments, conspiracy, corruption, greed, and fraud! Come and bask in the golden clarity of outrage, sing along with Galich, laugh at good old Russian absurdity and history, absurdity so foreign to us here. Raise your glass of vodka in that glorious moment before…well, you know.